World’s ugliest dog - level 3

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest of them all? Well, certainly not Quasimodo!

This 10-year-old pit bull and Dutch shepherd mix has just been crowned the world’s ugliest dog at the annual competition in Petaluma, California. Quasimodo hails from Florida and was rescued from an animalshelter.

Multiple spine defects have resulted in a backbone too short for his body, but that has not held him back! According to event organisers, he loves to jump and play and because of his appearance, he is a great ambassador for teaching people about acceptance and tolerance.

Last year, he was runner-up in the competition, but this year, Quasimodo managed to beat 19 other finalists for the title. The winner takes home $1,500 US dollars and can expect to make many local and national TV appearances. Many of those competing were shelter dogs.

The first competition was held over 50 years ago in Petaluma, and owners have been taking their pets to compete ever since. Perhaps it’s not so bad to be dog-ugly!

Difficult words: fairest (most attractive – old use), hail (to come from), animalshelter (a place where animals live until people can adopt them), defect (problem), runner-up (somebody who finishes second in a competition), dog-ugly (to be as ugly as a dog).

Source: www.ondemandnews.com

How to improve your English with News in Levels:

Reading

Read all today's articles and translate all words which you don't understand.

Read the articles from the day before and see if you remember all new words.

Listening

Listen to all today's news.

Stop the video after every sentence and repeat the sentence.

Repeat point 2 for the news which you listened to the day before.

Writing

Answer the questions under today's news and write them into the comments.

Chat in the Chat room for at least 2 minutes. You can write about today's news.